The Pen Pal Project
by cgal120
Summary: Strangers from different countries, two teenage boys are assigned to be pen pals for the International Program. Arthur knows that this could be an outlet that he has been looking for but doesn't know where he will be leading himself by opening up so much too Alfred. USUK. Mostly in letters form.


**The Pen Pal Project**

_Arthur:_

Dear Alfred,

I know that this may seem highly weird but I guess that we have been partnered together for this pen pal program. I must confess that I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of writing to a stranger in another country but I will do my best to make my letters as interesting as I possibly can.

I will warn you though; people do say that I am a right bore…

Well, I guess I should actually introduce myself finally. My name is Arthur Kirkland and I am 17 years of age. I'm originally from London, but (when the International Program began) my family moved to the South Coast of England so that my siblings and I could be a part of it. There are a fair deal of students in this program that have come from across the globe to be a part of this program as this is the central hub, but as I understand the project is global so it's understandable that you stayed in the States.

I have a fair few siblings and each are representatives of the different countries that make up the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Firstly there's Scott. He did represent Scotland but as he's just turned 20 and in university I'm not really sure if he's in the program anymore… Then there is Bryn. He's just turned 19 and is also in university. He represented Wales. Then there are the twins Aednat (pronounced Enid) and Ryan; they represent the two Irelands (Aednat being the Republic and Ryan being Northern Ireland). They're turning 18 soon so are still in college like me. I turned 17 a few days ago and I represent England. I have a younger brother too called Peter; he's only 3 so hasn't started school yet. I'm not sure if he'll be in the program as the nations have been taken. I think I heard from mum that he'd be Sealand or something, but I don't know…

Anyway, I bet it seems strange to you saying that I am in college seeing that I'm pretty much the same age as you are. But that's just the system in this country. It's currently the 25th of November and I only have 3 weeks until my first Christmas holiday in this new system.

Whilst I am writing this, I am currently sat in the South East Building section of the college campus. I've had to put my headphones in to block out the noise of Francis, Antonio, Gilbert, Feliciano, Ludwig and Roderich laughing.

Well, the others are laughing; Ludwig is just sat there like a stoic statue and Roderich is writing some sheet music. He looks just about as annoyed as I feel; if this was one of those American or Japanese cartoons I swear he would have little steam clouds puffing from his head… I wouldn't be surprised if he left in a bit, but Ludwig would stay for Feliciano and Gilbert.

It's pathetic really; Francis and Gilbert are attacking one another with a plastic bottle that they had found on the corridor floor, and Francis just got a shot to Gilbert's bollocks… It's now hit me on the arm so I am going to go and throw it in the bin where it belongs…

I'm getting really bitter looks now. I guess that's something though. It's more than what has been happening recently.

I guess I'm a bit sensitive to it, but I think that I am being ignored by them. It's been going on for a while now; Francis and Antonio have been hanging around with me for years, but since October it's been like I've become a third wheel… I think that I may know what the problem might be though; at the beginning of October I accidentally tripped Francis into a flowerpot. I swear to any deity that will listen that I didn't mean to do it… I even apologized! I never apologize to Francis so that act alone just proves how much I didn't mean to do it.

Antonio, Gilbert and Feliciano's brother Lovino started making jokes though. Gilbert especially as he acted doubly obnoxious, and it's all came back on me…

Why, I bet you are wondering, would I stick around the Bad Friends Trio? The simple answer is because I have no one else. Despite the attempts made by this program, the class I am in isn't very diverse. People stick to the cliques and the one that I am usually classed on doesn't want me.

Don't get me wrong, I talk to the other people in class, well, some of them at least…

It's starting to become harder to come into college each day. You are my age right (or near enough)? You'd be a sophomore right? I don't get your American grading systems as much as you probably don't understand the English grading system.

But I digress…

My mother is unaware of the problems that I have been facing here; I've not told her anything. I saw no point in doing so; it would only worry her to no end and I've had problems with Francis in the past. I mean, we had gone to San Francisco together on a class trip back in 2010 and he and our roommate ignored me for 4 of the 5 days we were out there. I ended up sitting alone out in the corridors which looked disturbingly similar to the hotel in The Shining…

I guess that you could say I've grown accustomed to the abuse by now. A friend should be there for you, help you, laugh _with_ you. So I guess that I don't really have any friends.

Well, Lovino's alright but he's somewhere with Laura (the girl representing Belgium) and some other people. He used to hang around with Antonio a lot but since Francis started to act so possessively towards some of his friends he's not been talking to either of us much.

I feel kind of stupid. It's the first time that we've "talked" to each other and I've basically said that I am a depressed loser who has no friends. I bet that you have a lot of friends. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve which is why all these problems seem to happen. I do question whether it's something wrong within myself; some universal problem inside me that makes people hate me.

And there I go again…

It's like my mother told me once… It's easier to open up to a stranger as they are like a blank page, not knowing the past, receiving the present and able to make a clearer path towards the future.

I'm sorry that this wasn't a very good opening letter. I don't really understand why I was the one chosen to do the opener but I hope that you can see that I did try my best…

Anyway, I look forward to your reply and to finding out about you.

Sincerely,

Arthur Kirkland.

**Notes:**

**So, this was actually started on the date given in the letter. But when I finished about it, I forgot about it until a few months ago when I tried typing it up but lost inspiration… I found it again at 22:55 this evening and have been working on it since. It's half past midnight now… :D**

**Anyway, I'm not really sure how I'm going to proceed with this story. I might have a friend write Alfred's responses or anyone that is interested in doing so now they've read this letter, or it may stick to Arthur's letters. I just don't know :/ We'll see how things turn out.**


End file.
